


Scarlet

by Moonbreeze19



Series: Lonashipping Week 2020 [1]
Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters: Sun & Moon | Pokemon Sun & Moon Versions
Genre: F/M, Lonashipping Week 2020, honestly a mess, i just had no inspiration, my first lona fic and it sucks, not edited at all either, sorry i tried
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-20
Updated: 2020-07-20
Packaged: 2021-03-04 17:41:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,570
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25410310
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Moonbreeze19/pseuds/Moonbreeze19
Summary: || Day 1: Alizarin Crimson ||For Gladion, red is… a lot of things. It’s the color of fire, and of anger. It’s the color of the god whose desert they are currently stuck in. It’s also his favorite color. And coincidentally, it’s the color of Moon’s beanie, laying in the sand with its owner nowhere in sight. Great.
Relationships: Gladio | Gladion/Mizuki | Selene (Pokemon Sun & Moon)
Series: Lonashipping Week 2020 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1840390
Comments: 2
Kudos: 16





	Scarlet

**Author's Note:**

> red prompt: *exists*  
> everybody else: "love! sunsets! gladion's favorite color!"  
> me: "uh... blood, and moon's beanie that is really more pink then red but let's go with it? but still gladion's favorite color."

For Gladion, red is… a lot of things. It’s the color of fire, and of anger. It’s the color of the god whose desert they are currently stuck in. It’s also his favorite color. And coincidentally, it’s the color of Moon’s beanie, laying in the sand with its owner nowhere in sight. Great. 

He jumps off Silvally’s back to pick it off the ground, stares at it for a moment, and then shoves it into his bag. Then he hops on his Pokemon once more, and they’re running through the desert all over again. Where Gladion cannot see. Where he is definitely _not_ panicking, because Moon is a colossal idiot and honestly Interpol is just even worse-

It’s kind of a problem. Interpol sent Moon - a 16 year old girl, Champion or not - into the desert. By herself. Without any sort of backup. In pursuit of an Ultra Beast they call Blaster. Unfortunately, she hasn’t come back out. Three hours later. It’s… rather worrying. Going up to Mount Lanakila on his day off to challenge her, only to find her, well, gone, was also worrying. So then, of course, he’d gone to Wicke. Moon’s frequent trips to Aether Paradise, specifically to talk to her, were… suspicious, to say the least. And of course _she’d_ said Moon was just taking a day off, and that she hadn’t seen her in days. Which was weird, because Kukui had said she’d gone to Aether Paradise. So then Gladion had lost his temper and admittedly yelled at her, because he had no patience and had way too many complicated feelings about Moon that he really didn’t want to be thinking about. And then Wicke had just said she was going to the Haina Desert, and Gladion had pretty much put it together at that point. A Beast Ball he’d once noticed on Moon’s Trainer Belt. A report of an odd, alien-like Pokemon he’d gotten just a couple days prior, that disappeared just a couple days later. Right around the time Moon took two days off from the League. 

So, duh. Gladion had to just be… stupid. Stupid, stupid, _stupid_ \- because he had let her go, by herself. Because now, he can’t find her. Because he isn’t strong enough, _again._ He’s never strong enough. He wasn’t strong enough to protect her back in Ultra Space, and he wasn’t strong enough back when-

He freezes, and his blood runs cold. Because he was wrong. He _has_ found her. It’s just…

To restate, the red is the color of a lot of things. Fire, anger, courage. Tapu Bulu, whose stupid desert they are currently lost in. Moon’s beanie, and his favorite color. And… 

Well, and the color of the blood currently pooling under her arm. Her Decidueye stands protectively over her, wings spread and legs bent, and it glares at him. Gladion never liked that thing - it’s frustratingly good at sweeping his team, regardless of what type matchup he throws at it, but that isn’t the point. Instead, he isn’t even thinking anymore. Because maybe, for once in his life, he can be just good enough to save Moon’s life. And he isn’t losing another person he cares about just because he was too afraid.

-

“Gladion? What are _you_ doing here?” That’s the first thing Moon says to him. Seriously? “And why am I in the hospital? I don’t-” Correction, it’s the first thing she’s said to _anyone._

“Because UB Blaster nearly Flash Cannoned your arm off,” he says blankly. She stiffens in the hospital bed, and then it clearly hits her. 

“What do you mean? How do you-” She stops, and then curses under her breath. “Who told you?” Gladion doesn’t reply to that for a moment. Who told him? Well, Wicke kinda did. But he figured it out. 

“I don’t think that matters,” he says icily. Moon gazes blankly up at the ceiling, and he stares down at her hand, pale a cold, on the edge of the bed. “How could you be so _stupid?”_ He spits. She flinches, and he barely even cares. “I can’t-” He stops, choking. He didn’t want to go here. “I can’t lose you,” he mutters. “Don’t you realize that?” Moon still won’t look at him. For a moment, he’s afraid he’s offended her. Scared her. Screwed up, somehow, since he seems to be really good at that lately. But then she speaks - so softly, so quietly, so… afraid, that it threatens to crack his heart in two.

“I thought we weren’t friends.” 

And it doesn’t break him in the way of grief, of pain, of fear. It breaks him in the way of regret, because he shouldn’t have said it. She’d never understand - Moon would never understand, that when he said they weren’t friends, it wasn’t because he didn’t care. It was because he cared too much - he cared so, so much, and he knew that bringing himself to her would destroy the both of them. But he regretted it so, so much. He’d ruined anything they’d had before even giving it a chance. 

He stares down at her hand and slowly places his palm over the top of it, looping her fingers in his. He isn’t really breathing, and just sits there. Doesn’t speak. Thinks, and then thinks some more. About what he can say to her, to fix everything. To convince her, that just because they aren’t _friends,_ doesn’t mean that he doesn’t need her. 

“Gladion?” It’s quiet, and maybe even a little bit afraid. He doesn’t like seeing her like that. He doesn’t want her to be scared - to be scared of him. But it’s all his fault, anyways. Maybe he deserves it. 

“Guess we aren’t friends, are we?” He asks quietly. He squeezes her hand tighter. “I kinda messed that one up.” That he did. He’s messed up a lot of things. Moon laughs, a quiet, forced laugh.

“Guess you did.” They sit in silence for a moment, and then Moon sighs quietly. She smiles slightly, not quite meeting his eyes. “And I guess my mission isn’t so secret anymore, is it?” She says. He sees a slight twinkle in the corner of her eyes, and an emotion comparable only to relief, hidden in her smile. Gladion looks away.

“You never wanted to do this, did you?” He asks. This time, it’s Moon who tightens her hand around his. She doesn’t nod, but Gladion has his answer. “Why, then? They don’t…” His voice trails off. _“They don’t need you”_ sounds far too harsh. He doesn’t say it. But Moon understands. 

“It’s my job, Gladion. I’m strong. I protect. I keep everybody safe, and then we’re all happy. I do what they want me to do, succeed, and succeed again. This is no different.” He hates that. He hates how her life isn’t even her own anymore. She’s too young for all of this - they all are. It isn’t fair. He hates how she’s responsible - how everything is her job now, and how he can’t help her. _Maybe you can._ But then again, that’s just wishful thinking. Interpol chose her. They didn’t choose him. There’s nothing he can do to change that. He fights the urge to sigh. 

“You don’t have to, Moon. You can ask for help sometimes.” He learned that the hard way. 

“But I don’t want to put anybody in danger like that.” But there she goes again. So selfless, so kind. So brave. So… fearless. 

Everybody says he’s the brave one. Moon always tells him she could never do the things he did. But Gladion knows that’s a lie. Because Moon is the best of them, and she always has been. She never thinks of herself - she just keeps pushing forwards, getting stronger to protect those she cares about. She’s better than he could ever be.

“I’d do it with you, you know.” She doesn’t look at him. Gladion swallows the lump in his throat, and keeps going. “If you want my help, you can call. It’s okay to be afraid, and it’s okay to…” He pauses again. This is the hardest part. “I was wrong, you know. We can be friends if you want.” She looks at him, warm gray eyes still and quiet. “Or… I guess we could be more.” 

It’s not the first time he’s told her how he feels. It is the first time he hasn’t immediately screwed it up right after. And this time, Moon has no reply. 

Gladion isn’t sure if that means he’s done it all wrong again or not. Immediately, he stands up, dropping her hand and picking up his bag. He doesn’t look at her - he doesn’t want to. He’s about to start for the door, when she says his name. Once. Quietly, under her breath, as if she half hoped he wouldn’t hear her. He does, and stops. He hears her take a deep breath, and he can almost hear the smile in her voice. 

“Do you have my beanie?” He smiles, slightly. Pulls it out of his bag and turns around, pressing it into her hands. He meets her eyes, once. He knows that this time, he’s finally done something right. As he turns away, he speaks one last time. 

“Guess I did.” Then he’s gone, closing the door behind him, and he smiles. He was wrong before. Red is all those things, and more. It’s also the color of love.

**Author's Note:**

> i am not joking when i said i had no inspiration and i feel bad that my first lona fic is this bad, but apparently reading quite literally almost every single fic in the entire tag hasn't prepared me to write it myself (i am not joking, throw one at me and i'm sure i've read it lol). but uh... i hope at least somebody liked it? 
> 
> (also it's kind of short, wish it could be longer but i have a personal fic to finish today as well, so i hope it's okay?)


End file.
